Epstein relishes challenge in Chicago

MESA, Ariz. - The stance is the same. Arms folded, sunglasses down, face turned toward early drills on a spring training field populated by players in red and blue. There is mid-February warmth, there are baseball diamonds, there is Theo Epstein, watching his team.

But this is not Florida. These are not the Red Sox. And yet, it feels so much like all those years in Fort Myers. Like the early years, when Epstein and his callow front office faced the task of building a winner out of a loser - the task of creation.